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U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR

Co-medalists Sean Crocker (l.) and Sam Horsfield were all smiles following their 7-under 137 performances in stroke play. (USGA/Jonathan Ernst)

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Two talented 17-year-olds at the top of their games garnered co-medalists honors following a frenetic and exciting second day of stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

The cut came at 5-over 149, and the day ended with a nine-way playoff for the final five spots to fill out of the field of 64 who advance to match play, which will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23 at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course.

Sam Horsfield, of England, and Sean Crocker, of Zimbabwe, finished with a two-round total of 7-under 137 to stand atop the stroke-play leader board, one stroke in front of first-round leader Davis Riley (71), of Hattiesburg, Miss., Will Grimmer (67), of Cincinnati and Dominic Foos (68), of Germany, who were tied at 6-under 138.

Horsfield was off in the first grouping of the day and shot a 3-under 69 to go with his first-round 68.

I was trying to make birdies but I also wasn’t trying to do anything stupid, said Horsfield of his strategy for today. I like being a higher seed. So I’m just going to go out and play my game and hopefully it’s good enough.

Crocker, playing three groups later on the opposite side of the golf course, followed up his first-round 71 with a sparkling 6-under 66 that included a then-championship-record score of 30 for his first nine holes.

I was at 1-under fast after I birdied the first hole, and then I birdied the next par 5, said Crocker of his opening-nine 30. Then all of a sudden I make more birdies, and on 18 – my ninth hole – I hit a 4-iron from 230 to about a foot away and was like whoa, I’m 6-under after nine. It just happened so quick.

On day where the scores were nearly as hot as the weather, that would only stand as a record for roughly six more hours.

Eric Bae, of Cary, N.C., played in the afternoon and found himself at 6 over par through 27 holes, knowing he needed to make a move just to make the cut to match play. He did that and more, firing a 7-under 29 on his second nine holes to set a championship record. His incredible stretch included five birdies and an eagle – a holed wedge shot from 60 yards on the 377-yard sixth hole – on holes 3 through 9.

I was just trying to make a move because I shot 2 over on my front nine so I really needed to step it up, said Bae. I started hitting fairways and that was pretty much the difference.

The first-round leader, Davis Riley, of Hattiesburg, Miss., at one point looked like he would be in position to finish as the medalist. Playing in the afternoon, he made the turn in 3 under par to reach 8 under for the championship, and was still without a bogey through 29 holes. But he then hit his tee shot into the water hazard at the par-3 third hole (his 12th of the day) to lead to his first of two double bogeys and an eventual 71.

I played really solid, five birdies and two doubles, said a positive Riley. I only had one really bad swing all day so I have a lot of confidence going into the match play portion of it. I’m really excited.

Three players finished at 4-under 140 to round out the rest of the top eight seeds for match play: Braden Thornberry (71), of Olive Branch, Miss., Ryan Ruffels (68), of Australia and William Zalatoris (69), of Plano, Texas.

A trio of quarterfinalists from the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur also easily advanced to match play once again. Cameron Young, of Scarborough, N.Y., shot 70 today to finish at 3-under 141; Zecheng Dou, of the People’s Republic of China, shot a second consecutive 72 to stand at even-par 144; and John Augenstein, of Owensboro, Ky., is at 2-over 146 after a second straight 73.

Dou was one of four players from the People’s Republic of China in the field at the start of the championship, all of whom made the cut to match play. Last week at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., Fumie (Alice) Jo became the first player from mainland China to win a USGA championship.

Following the conclusion of 36 holes, nine players were tied at 5-over 149, with only five spots in match play remaining. The playoff began at the par-3 12th hole, where Justin Conant, of Westerville, Ohio, and Joshua McCarthy, of Danville, Calif., each made birdie to advance and one player, Ashton Poole, made a bogey to be eliminated.

The remaining six players made par and proceeded to the par-5 13th hole to continue the playoff for the final three spots. On the 13th, David Laskin, of Elk Grove, Calif., and Priyanshu Singh, of India made birdie, while Dylan McCabe, of Sioux City, Iowa made par, to advance to the round of 64.

Greg Midland is the director of editorial and multimedia content for the USGA. Email him at gmidland@usga.org.

Results

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Results from Tuesday’s second round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, conducted at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course (7,181 yards, par 72):

Sean Crocker, Zimbabwe 71-66--137

Sam Horsfield, England 68-69--137

Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss. 67-71--138

Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio 71-67--138

Dominic Foos, Germany 70-68--138

Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss. 69-71--140

Ryan Ruffels, Australia 72-68--140

William Zalatoris, Plano, Texas 71-69--140

Cameron Young, Scarborough, N.Y. 71-70--141

Jacob Solomon, Dublin, Calif. 69-72--141

Tony Gil, Canada 69-72--141

Curtis Luck, Australia 75-66--141

Brad Dalke, Hobart, Okla. 69-72--141

Shuai Ming Wong, People's Republic of China 72-69--141

Charles Kim, Cedar Park, Texas 71-71--142

Cheng Jin, People's Republic of China 69-73--142

Nathan Jeansonne, Keithville, La. 74-68--142

Zach Murray, Australia 72-71--143

Bryce Hendrix, Greenville, N.C. 70-73--143

Eric Bae, Cary, N.C. 76-67--143

Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas 71-72--143

Andy Zhang, People's Republic of China 71-72--143

Davis Shore, Knoxville, Tenn. 71-72--143

John Pak, Scotch Plains, N.J. 72-72--144

Zecheng Dou, People's Republic of China 72-72--144

Joshua Sedeno, Roseville, Calif. 68-76--144

Doc Redman, Raleigh, N.C. 71-73--144

Alex Smalley, Wake Forest, N.C. 75-70--145

Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wis. 69-76--145

Ashwin Arasu, San Diego, Calif. 72-73--145

Won Jun Lee, Republic of Korea 70-76--146

Keenan Huskey, Greenville, S.C. 74-72--146

John Augenstein, Owensboro, Ky. 73-73--146

John Mancinotti, Toledo, Ohio 69-77--146

Jorge Villar, Mexico 75-71--146

Cole Madey, West Linn, Ore. 76-70--146

Dwight Cauthen, Columbia, S.C. 72-75--147

Justin Suh, San Jose, Calif. 78-69--147

Trevor Ranton, Canada 75-72--147

Charlie Miller, Jackson, Miss. 74-73--147

Blake Dyer, Saint Petersburg, Fla. 76-71--147

Marcus Byrd, Dunwoody, Ga. 73-74--147

Colin Bowles, Oceana, W.Va. 74-73--147

Tanner Owens, Milton, Tenn. 74-73--147

Peter Jones, Owatonna, Minn. 74-73--147

Jake Staiano, Englewood, Colo. 73-74--147

Bryson Nimmer, Bluffton, S.C. 76-71--147

Frankie Capan III, North Oaks, Minn. 74-73--147

Sahith Theegala, Chino Hills, Calif. 78-69--147

Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. 77-71--148

Aaron DeNucci, Clive, Iowa 70-78--148

Anton Serafini, Lake Mary, Fla. 77-71--148

Spencer Ralston, Gainesville, Ga. 74-74--148

Easton Paxton, Riverton, Wyo. 75-73--148

David Snyder, McAllen, Texas 77-71--148

Will Dickson, Providence, R.I. 74-74--148

Caleb Proveaux, Lexington, S.C. 71-77--148

Andreas Halvorsen, Norway 72-76--148

Austen Sandoval, Sacramento, Calif. 76-72--148

Joshua McCarthy, Danville, Calif. 75-74—149*

Justin Conant, Westerville, Ohio 73-76—149*

Dylan McCabe, Sioux City, Iowa 76-73--149*

Ashton Poole, Charlotte, N.C. 76-73--149*

Patrick Welch, Providence, R.I. 75-74--149*

Chase Cutshall, Melbourne, Fla. 75-74--149*

David Laskin, Elk Grove, Calif. 74-75--149*

Priyanshu Singh, India 71-78--149*

Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla. 71-78--149*

*=playoff; nine players for five spots

----------The following players failed to make the cut (149):----------